Some cliches never die and among the most enduring, on the eve of South Africa's historic World Cup, is of Uruguay as dirty so-and-sos. If those at the heart of the South American team's camp protest that the stereotype is passé and grossly unfair, it nevertheless retains the capacity to aggravate.

Oscar Tabárez, the manager, certainly took the bait on the eve of the Group A opener with France at Cape Town's imposing 64,100-capacity Green Point Stadium. The question, when it came from a female Chinese TV reporter, hardly carried an assassin's menace. "Mr Tabárez," she said, in faltering English. "Your team got 48 yellow cards and four red cards in qualifying. Can you explain this?"

Tabárez appeared slightly amused when the translation was relayed to him but his answer bristled with defiance. "I knew that this question was going to be asked," he said. "Every time, at a major tournament, we Uruguayans always get asked this. All of the squads have a number of yellow and red cards and I also refer you to our build-up game against Switzerland on 3 March, when we won 3-1. Switzerland had five yellow cards and we were given none.

"We are talking about football here and I don't think it's right to interpret with a bias. We have been respectful of all of Fifa's fair play rules and when things don't go our way we have our options but we keep moving forward. Uruguay's ambition is to win but we want a fair game."

Tabárez's team undoubtedly have steel but there is silk, too, in the form Diego Forlán and Luis Suárez, the exciting strike partnership. Then there is the 21-year-old midfield prodigy Nicolás Lodeiro of Ajax who, unfortunately, is not expected to start against France but could have an impact off the bench or in later games.

Tabárez's mission is not only to guide his country into the knockout phase of the competition but to rebrand their football, to cut through the slurs. With some of the players at his disposal, he has a fighting chance, although it is one thing to behave like angels in a friendly against Switzerland and quite another to remain cool in the prickly heat of a major tournament. The eyes of the world will begin to scrutinise them tonight.

As a footnote, the Chinese TV reporter is shaping up as an early media star of the tournament. Consider her question to Raymond Domenech, the France manager. "When a frog is put in boiling water, it doesn't feel the heat until it gets too hot," she said. "How warm is the water for you now?"